Published: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 6:49 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 6:49 p.m.

MILLS RIVER — Women make up about 52 percent of North Carolina's population and roughly 55 percent of its voters, according to the political action group Lillian's List.

Yet only 22 percent of those serving in the N.C. General Assembly are female.

In partnership with the Democratic Women of North Carolina, Lillian's List hopes to change that equation by rallying their collective forces to recruit, train and promote more progressive, pro-choice women candidates for state office, said Executive Director Carol Teal.

Teal was the keynote speaker at a luncheon held Tuesday at the Unity Center and sponsored by the Democratic Women of Henderson, Buncombe and Transylvania Counties. Roughly 150 Democrats from eight counties gathered in Mills River to hear Teal's talk, called “Saving Our State.”

“I was talking with Luke Hyde (chairman of the 11th Congressional District) earlier today and we were commenting that we can't really recall a time in recent history when so many of us have felt so compelled to do something to turn our state around,” Teal said.

The elections of 2010 swept Republicans into control of the General Assembly for the first time since 1896. That was “devastating” for Democratic women, Teal said, because a redistricting plan approved by GOP legislators “gerrymandered” the state's voting in ways that made it difficult for pro-choice, progressive candidates to win.

Before the GOP takeover, Teal said North Carolina was “a leader in the South in teacher pay... Now we're at the bottom.” Republicans have undermined environmental protections, “turned their backs” on health care by refusing to expand Medicaid coverage to 500,000 poor citizens, and created laws that “suppress voting,” she said.

But Teal said Democratic women shouldn't dwell on “all the things that are wrong now... You have to do the pity party, you have to be upset, but then you quickly have to say, 'What are you going to do about it?' And what we're going to do is work together in a strong partnership to get everybody engaged in the political process.”

Modeled after the national pro-choice PAC known as Emily's List, Lillian's List focuses on strategically recruiting new women candidates who are “committed to reproductive freedom and equality for women.” The North Carolina group is named after Lillian Clement, an Asheville lawyer who served as the General Assembly's first female representative in 1921.

The group has thrown its political clout and financial resources behind such candidates as U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan and N.C. Rep. Susan Fisher of Asheville. Currently, they are pushing a slate of five female candidates seeking General Assembly seats in 2014, including mountain resident Sue Counts, who is running to represent the 93rd District in Watauga and Ashe counties.

Recruiting Democratic women to run for state office has its own unique challenges, Teal said.

According to research done by Emily's List, “women have to be asked seven times on average, and women feel like they have to have a master's degree in several policy areas before they feel comfortable and confident to run,” she said. “And men, not so much — they say, 'Yeah, I can do that.' We need women to have that same confidence.”

The conservative movement has done a “brilliant job” of recruiting, nurturing and funding their candidates, Teal said. Their success has been a wake-up call for Lillian's List organizers, who are now laying the groundwork for elections beyond 2014.

“We realized that we needed to put more focus on building the bench, so when an opportunity in the General Assembly pops up, we can say, 'You, you, suit up!' We've got to have that (broad-based approach)... This is a long game here.”

Teal said progressives need to develop a “network of scouts” across the state to ensure the pipeline of ready-and-willing candidates continues to flow toward Raleigh. And they don't just need to identify and groom candidates, she added, but also campaign managers and campaign staffers.

“These are the young people that are way smarter than I am, that know all kinds of fancy-pants stuff that is really necessary to run a modern campaign these days,” she said. Her group started an intensive three-day training academy for campaign staff in Montreat last fall, named after slain Democratic strategist Jamie Kirk Hahn.

The luncheon was attended by several male Democrats, including aspiring Henderson County Sheriff Marty Katz, U.S. House District 11 candidate Keith Ruehl, N.C. Senate contender Rick Wood and Norm Bossert, who is running for N.C. House District 113.

<p>MILLS RIVER — Women make up about 52 percent of North Carolina's population and roughly 55 percent of its voters, according to the political action group Lillian's List. </p><p>Yet only 22 percent of those serving in the N.C. General Assembly are female.</p><p>In partnership with the Democratic Women of North Carolina, Lillian's List hopes to change that equation by rallying their collective forces to recruit, train and promote more progressive, pro-choice women candidates for state office, said Executive Director Carol Teal.</p><p>Teal was the keynote speaker at a luncheon held Tuesday at the Unity Center and sponsored by the Democratic Women of Henderson, Buncombe and Transylvania Counties. Roughly 150 Democrats from eight counties gathered in Mills River to hear Teal's talk, called “Saving Our State.”</p><p>“I was talking with Luke Hyde (chairman of the 11th Congressional District) earlier today and we were commenting that we can't really recall a time in recent history when so many of us have felt so compelled to do something to turn our state around,” Teal said.</p><p>The elections of 2010 swept Republicans into control of the General Assembly for the first time since 1896. That was “devastating” for Democratic women, Teal said, because a redistricting plan approved by GOP legislators “gerrymandered” the state's voting in ways that made it difficult for pro-choice, progressive candidates to win.</p><p>Before the GOP takeover, Teal said North Carolina was “a leader in the South in teacher pay... Now we're at the bottom.” Republicans have undermined environmental protections, “turned their backs” on health care by refusing to expand Medicaid coverage to 500,000 poor citizens, and created laws that “suppress voting,” she said.</p><p>But Teal said Democratic women shouldn't dwell on “all the things that are wrong now... You have to do the pity party, you have to be upset, but then you quickly have to say, 'What are you going to do about it?' And what we're going to do is work together in a strong partnership to get everybody engaged in the political process.”</p><p>Modeled after the national pro-choice PAC known as Emily's List, Lillian's List focuses on strategically recruiting new women candidates who are “committed to reproductive freedom and equality for women.” The North Carolina group is named after Lillian Clement, an Asheville lawyer who served as the General Assembly's first female representative in 1921.</p><p>The group has thrown its political clout and financial resources behind such candidates as U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan and N.C. Rep. Susan Fisher of Asheville. Currently, they are pushing a slate of five female candidates seeking General Assembly seats in 2014, including mountain resident Sue Counts, who is running to represent the 93rd District in Watauga and Ashe counties.</p><p>Recruiting Democratic women to run for state office has its own unique challenges, Teal said. </p><p>According to research done by Emily's List, “women have to be asked seven times on average, and women feel like they have to have a master's degree in several policy areas before they feel comfortable and confident to run,” she said. “And men, not so much — they say, 'Yeah, I can do that.' We need women to have that same confidence.”</p><p>The conservative movement has done a “brilliant job” of recruiting, nurturing and funding their candidates, Teal said. Their success has been a wake-up call for Lillian's List organizers, who are now laying the groundwork for elections beyond 2014.</p><p>“We realized that we needed to put more focus on building the bench, so when an opportunity in the General Assembly pops up, we can say, 'You, you, suit up!' We've got to have that (broad-based approach)... This is a long game here.”</p><p>Teal said progressives need to develop a “network of scouts” across the state to ensure the pipeline of ready-and-willing candidates continues to flow toward Raleigh. And they don't just need to identify and groom candidates, she added, but also campaign managers and campaign staffers.</p><p>“These are the young people that are way smarter than I am, that know all kinds of fancy-pants stuff that is really necessary to run a modern campaign these days,” she said. Her group started an intensive three-day training academy for campaign staff in Montreat last fall, named after slain Democratic strategist Jamie Kirk Hahn.</p><p>The luncheon was attended by several male Democrats, including aspiring Henderson County Sheriff Marty Katz, U.S. House District 11 candidate Keith Ruehl, N.C. Senate contender Rick Wood and Norm Bossert, who is running for N.C. House District 113.</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>